If this is your first visit and you wish to register,
please be sure to check our Residency Requirements by
clicking this link.
When, and if, you are ready to register
click on this link.
Whether or not you choose to register, or meet or residency
requirements, please feel free to check out our site as
almost all areas are open to Guest viewing.

A Shelf for the shop - First project in new shop

I'm still finding homes for everything in the new basement workshop, but things are pretty much up and running at this point. I decided I needed a shelf to go above the rolling tool cabinet.

I had some really warped and knotted black walnut from a lumber run a while back (got some good stuff too, so no complaints). I figured I would use the worst boards for this project and just see what I could come up with. I grabbed a bunch of boards and got to work.

Some would only yield shorter boards because of the warping, but there were a few that had some straight sections as well.

Looks a lot nicer after some planing.

Filled all the defects with epoxy mixed with black transtint dye.

I decided I was going to put through tenons on the shelves. I marked out the mortise with a marking gauge. I had both legs of the gauge extended, but *tried* to only have one engaged at a time. You can see that didn't quite go as planned here with the bottom line being a bit longer than intended. Oh well, that's how you know it was handmade right?

I roughed out the mortises on the drill press.

Next I needed to cut the tenons. I decided to make a tall auxiliary fence for the tablesaw and make the cuts that way.

That worked pretty well, but it did require some clean up by hand. Mostly due to the difference in height between the slider and the cast iron top. Pretty easy to clean up though, so a success in my book. I made dadoes and through tenons on the side pieces. Notice that the tenons are the same thickness as the rest of the board. That didn't turn out to be a great idea. Any guesses on what happened after I did my final sanding?

I recalled this technique from a workshop with danmart77, a simple block to keep your chisel at a 90 degree angle. I tried without the block at first because I didn't even think about it, and when things started going south, I remember that technique, found a scrap, ran it over the jointer and suddenly it was a night and day difference.

Hmmm, something doesn't look quite right here....

Time for a repair

All better. The scribe line shows where the original wood is, no scribe line on the repaired part.

The case is dry fit.

Side view showing the through tenons and a big epoxy knot.

Some good

Some not so good.

Some more dividers would look better

And one more

That board that I made a test cut with didn't have as much excess length as I needed.

Another repair

Time for a glue up. I decided to use epoxy for the glue up since there were a few gaps to deal with.

Next I had to trim the through tenons and excess epoxy used to fill gaps. I spent some time with a flush trim saw, then decided to make a jig for the tablesaw. A simple board to act as an L-Fence. First time with this technique, it worked very well.

Ran the case through referencing off the L Fence.

This is where the outrigger table is really nice to have for support.

I didn't dare go much closer than this. Close enough to peel the layer of epoxy with the tape.

I put on some boiled linseed oil for a finish and wet sanded with 400 grit during the application.

I cut notches in the back for electrical cord access.

It will be mounted with a french cleat.

The oil probably needs to dry a bit more, but I hung it up for a minute just to see what it looks like on the wall.

Re: A Shelf for the shop - First project in new shop

Looks good and should be very functional. I'm still trying to deal with unpacking and clutter in the new shop. Still have shop cabinets to move from Cary. I got all of the ductwork out of Cary for Dust Collection and started installing it yesterday during the snow storm. I'll get some more done today and take some pictures to post.

Re: A Shelf for the shop - First project in new shop

Jeremy, thanks for the post! I especially liked that you posted the "good" and the "not so good". As we all know, woodworking isn't always smooth sailing; I appreciate you showing us your work, warts and all. At the end of the day, the shelf is not only functional but also very well crafted!